


The Twinkling Trinket

by fourdrunksluts



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Fae & Fairies, M/M, Mischief, Mutual Pining, Shapeshifting, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:42:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23151154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourdrunksluts/pseuds/fourdrunksluts
Summary: The moment Calum passes the threshold, Luke’s looking up. His cheeks suddenly get sharp, the magic he possesses shining on his face like glitter, sparkling in the light. Magic recognizes magic, and Luke glares when the familiar spark of Calum’s shapeshifter energy enters the shop.“What are you doing here?” Luke asks, voice biting as Calum leisurely strolls towards him. “Are my healing stones not enough for you, ‘shifter? You back to steal some more?”He’s supposed to be angry, and when people are angry at Calum, they look cruel and ugly and scary, but Luke’s never anything but ethereal; especially with all of the magic glimmering on his angular cheeks. Calum drops the bags of stones at his feet, pecking the leather of his boot with his beak and turning to walk out.-Calum's a mischievous shapeshifter, who steals from Luke's boutique to earn his attention.
Relationships: Luke Hemmings/Calum Hood, Michael Clifford/Ashton Irwin
Comments: 13
Kudos: 88





	The Twinkling Trinket

“You’re going to have to grow up one of these days, Calum. You can’t keep playing these games like you’re some teenage ‘shifter.” 

From his seat, Calum stares up at Ashton, really wishing he could roll his eyes right now. Part of him feels repentant, like maybe he goes too far with his stunts, but there’s another - even bigger - part of him that thinks maybe Ashton’s overreacting. It’s not like Calum burned down a building or physically hurt somebody; he’s never let himself go  _ that _ far into a prank. 

Not that he’d call what he does  _ pranks _ , really, but that’s what Ashton always says. Sure, Calum’s prone to mischief around town. He steals puff pastries from the cafe down the street every morning and turns into a guinea pig to ignite his big sister’s allergies when she visits, but those aren’t pranks. At best, he’s being a nuisance, and he’s totally alright with that. There’s no point in being a shapeshifter and not using your powers, Calum thinks. 

“You need to start taking responsibility for yourself,” Ashton’s still scolding him, pacing in their living room and doing everything in his power to make Calum feel guilty for his stunt. “Maybe if you got a job, or went back to school, or did  _ anything _ other than harass innocent store owners, the elders would let you into the community, and you wouldn’t cause so much trouble.” 

His lecture cuts deep, and Calum really wants to yell back, to explain his side and make Ashton realize that he won’t change just because a few ancient shapeshifters tell him about their history, but he’s still stuck in the body of a dove, so he coos, completely expecting it when Ashton fumes, turning an ugly shade of red. 

“Don’t take that tone with me,” he snaps, and Calum coos again, just fucking with him at this point. “You’re going back to that shop and returning the stones, Calum Hood. I don’t want you back here until you have.” 

Picking Calum up, holding him too tight to allow for a struggle, Ashton carries Calum to the patio and sets him on the wood. The bag of healing stones that Calum stole earlier land with a  _ thud _ next to him before Ashton shuts the door and Calum’s left alone. 

Easier than anything, Calum could fly to the roof and keep the stone there with the other loot he’s acquired from feeble and dimwitted shopkeepers on the strip, but this heist, like Calum  _ tried _ to explain to Ashton, wasn’t about the loot, and it definitely wasn’t about antagonizing the neighborhood. No, this raid was more specific and far less planned than any of Calum’s usual expeditions.

With his head hung low and the satchel of stolen goods dangling from his beak, Calum miserably flies down the street, landing on top of the blue mailbox that looks directly into  _ The Twinkling Trinket _ . 

It’s a shit feeling, looking inside the boutique at the aftermath of what his inability to be a normal creature did. It’s not that Calum’s intentionally a cruel person, it’s just that he’s mischievous - it’s all he knows - and sometimes, emotions he feels manifest themselves into impulsive actions that make him want to torment beautiful, fragile, undeserving store owners like  _ Luke _ . 

Calum’s been told time and time again by Ashton and just about every other shapeshifter he meets that these compulsions he has can easily be managed if he’d just finish his training with the elders, but nothing sounds worse than hearing the history of his kind when he’s already decent at controlling his shift. 

Besides, he highly doubts the community will even take him back in after they kicked him out so harshly all those years ago. 

When Calum was eighteen and fresh out of high school, he was set to begin his training with the elders. Shapeshifters have a bit of a bad image in the supernatural population, and to keep it from getting any worse, shapeshifters that refused to train were shunned from the community. It hadn’t meant a lot at the time, but a shunned shapeshifter was also a liability, meaning getting a job or securing an apartment became impossible. Ashton found Calum, down on his luck, shifted into a squirrel in a park, and he took pity, letting Calum move in and become his best friend. It’s been six years since then, and Ashton’s insistence on Calum requesting training has only gotten stronger. 

At this point, though, his suggestions are a lot less subtle, and Calum’s even more over it. He’s twenty-four, for Gods’ sake, and he doesn’t need someone pressuring him to settle down. He’s a punk to the shapeshifter community, and he’s happy to live like that for a long time. Especially when it means getting a rise out of the pretty faerie in the most successful boutique on the strip.

Calum first saw Luke when he was on his way back from knocking over displays in a siren’s music shop. She’d lured Ashton in and would’ve torn him apart if he didn’t think better and shift before her influence was too strong. It’s one of the few times in the past six years that Calum’s heard of Ashton  _ actually  _ using his powers, and it wasn’t as exciting to hear about as it should’ve been. To enact vengeance for his friend’s trauma, Calum decided to destroy her shop in the body of a lemur. 

He was in his flesh again when he walked past  _ The Twinkling Trinket _ , a ’Grand Opening’ sign on the window and people milling about on the inside. Luke was hidden behind them, standing at the counter, talking to a vampire - someone Calum’s unhappy to have learned is always visiting the shop - and smiling the biggest, prettiest grin Calum’s ever seen. 

Before he knew what was happening, he was shifting back into a lemur and running inside, causing a commotion when he tried to steal some jewelry. The excitement was too much for him, and he ended up running into a wall, but seeing Luke react, seeing him take his faerie form, it quickly became something Calum got addicted to. 

Luke’s inside the store now, pacing back and forth as he rants to his vampiric friend, and Calum thinks he might be in love. He’s just  _ cute _ , even when he’s stressed out, yelling about Calum’s mischief and the stock that’s gone missing. Calum knows he’s causing trouble, knows that if Luke knew it was  _ him _ making his life miserable, Calum would have no chance, but it’s all he can do. Getting on Luke’s nerves is better than not seeing him at all. 

When he can’t sit on the mailbox any longer, Calum flies down to the entryway, and walks through the door on his thin feet. The moment he passes the threshold, Luke’s looking up. His cheeks suddenly get sharp, the magic he possesses shining on his face like glitter, sparkling in the light. Magic recognizes magic, and Luke glares when the familiar spark of Calum’s shapeshifter energy enters the shop. 

“What are you doing here?” Luke asks, voice biting as Calum leisurely strolls towards him. “Are my healing stones not enough for you, ‘shifter? You back to steal some more?” 

He’s supposed to be angry, and when people are angry at Calum, they look cruel and ugly and scary, but Luke’s never anything but ethereal; especially with all of the magic glimmering on his angular cheeks. Calum drops the bags of stones at his feet, pecking the leather of his boot with his beak and turning to walk out. 

Though he tries to be dignified with his exit, his feet slapping the tile on the ground as he marches to the door, he’s forced to fly away when the wind of a quick-moving vampire trails his body. 

And then he’s off. 

☽☽☽

Calum’s in his flesh the next time he visits  _ The Twinkling Trinket _ . 

As usual, his first steps over the threshold ignite the sense in Luke, but because Calum isn’t actually displaying his power, there’s no familiarity in the magic - Luke doesn’t know he’s the trouble wreaking havoc on the small shop. 

Sometimes Calum visits in his flesh, and every time he does, he’s met with a smile and an exciting new addition to the store’s stock. Luke thinks Calum’s a werewolf for some reason - not at all because Calum maybe put the idea in his head - and most of the items he shows are related to the moon, or lycanthropy, or the mythology behind silver. While most of it doesn’t always help, Calum won’t correct him on his species.

Technically, Calum  _ can _ turn into a wolf. He can just also turn into a rabbit. Or a tree. Or a tiny little ant, if he’s feeling  _ really _ adventurous. He doesn’t like going too small, though - the risk of dying far too great. 

“Calum!” Luke yells. His face is perfectly soft, rounded cheeks and pale skin without a speck of the gittery magic Calum’s sometimes blessed to see. He’s completely in his flesh, and he’s just as beautiful as always. “Hi!” 

The smile that forms on Calum’s face in return is instinctive, unable to help himself when Luke’s so perfect, his own happiness infectious. “Hey, Luke.” He steps up to the counter to see a mess of boxes behind it. It must be shipment day, Calum realizes, and this must be all the new stock. 

“I, um, I’m really glad you stopped by.” Luke’s looking around wildly as he talks, lifting up the tissue paper and spare packing peanuts for something. “We just got this new product, and I thought of you.” 

The idea that Luke thinks about Calum, that something came in to put him at the forefront of Luke’s mind, has Calum’s stomach feeling bubbly, light. There’s a sudden pull at his core, the shift, that makes him ache to turn into a flower, a  _ rose _ , maybe something pink to match the tulips in the vase on the counter. 

“What is it?” 

“Hold on just one moment.” He holds up his pointer finger, staring at Calum to make sure he doesn’t move before he skips into his backroom, disappearing behind the swinging door. 

He’s gone for a minute, so Calum takes the time to look around the shop. It’s relatively empty, like it usually is this time of day, the only other person in the shop being a young witch, flipping through a journal on gnomes. There’s an enchanted figurine shelf in a bit of disarray, an open box at the bottom of it, Luke probably having been unpacking the new product. In front of him sits a purple stone attached to a thin but sturdy looking chain. It’s just lying on the glass counter, but Calum feels drawn to it, the magic of his shift wanting to reach out and take hold. 

In the background, Calum can hear Luke stumbling out of his office but doesn’t look up, too transfixed on the pendant resting so delicately. 

“It’s an amethyst,” Luke tells him, pulling Calum’s attention away making him look up. “I got it from a water nymph yesterday.” 

"It’s beautiful."

"It’s powerful, too," Luke adds. He drops the small box he’s holding onto the counter and lifts the stone up gently. "I’m not entirely sure what it does, but I can feel it calming my magic." 

It seems to happen out of nowhere, the way the stone starts glowing a specifically oceanic blue, the exact shade of Luke’s eyes, and begins to hover over the skin of Luke’s palm. Calum breathes, "wow…" transfixed by the sight it makes. 

"Part of me wants to wear it because my magic has been a little unpredictable lately, but I think it’d look really nice on display." Luke hangs the pendant up on a T-shaped velvet jewelry rack, and Calum can’t help but think that it’d look beautiful on Luke. He thinks he might be selfish for wanting to keep it away from the fae, though, too entranced by the sparks Luke’s fingers spit out when his magic gets out of control. "Anyway…" Luke slides the small box he dropped earlier across the glass. "This is for you."

Eager for whatever Luke found that made him think of Calum, he picks up the box and opens it. A vial of lotion sits inside, and he pulls it out slowly, spinning it in his three-finger hold. "What’s it for?" 

"It’s lotion," Luke unhelpfully supplies, and Calum bites his lip against any sarcastic comments he’d typically be making. " _ Really _ good stuff. It’s good for healing the ache of a tough transformation. I know the full moon is in a week, and this should heal you a bit faster." 

It’s sweet, the consideration he put into it, and despite not actually being a werewolf, not actually feeling the moon’s influence, Calum will be able to put the item to good use. He was a dove for the better part of yesterday, and when he  _ was _ human again, he wandered around the city, too scared to go back home and get yelled at again by Ashton. There’s a gentle ache in his muscles that this will really help. "Thank you, Luke. I’m definitely going to need this." 

Luke shrugs, looking down at his feet. Right through the transparent glass countertop, Calum can see that his toes are turned inward and can’t help but find it fitting that they’re called pigeon toes when he wants to  _ coo _ so badly just seeing them. "It’s a little on the pricey side, but I’ll knock some of it off for you." He types something into the register, and Calum fishes the cash out of the bottom of his pocket. 

"Yeah?" He asks, grinning. "What’d I do to earn that?"

Luke shrugs as Calum slides his crumpled bills across the counter. "Maybe I just want to see you smile." Calum blushes, the magic of his shift tightening in his stomach as Luke pushes his change back. "You, um… you should come by more often. I like it when you visit." 

It’s Luke’s turn to blush, and as he does, it brings out the glimmery magic from his fae, shimmering sparkles dusting his currently-soft cheekbones. It makes Calum feel out of control, the taste of Luke’s magic strong on his tongue, a jitter in his bones that makes him want to run. If he could, he’d say  _ yes _ , that he’d stop by every day if Luke keeps smiling at him like that. Instead, he doesn’t say anything flirty or suave, or even  _ nice _ . 

"I’m busy a lot." He grabs the vial and walks away, knowing he fucked up when he passes the window and sees Luke frowning at the counter, the tulips in the vase slightly wilting. Calum feels like a dick and punishes himself by spending the rest of his day at the park as a goose. 

Nobody bothers him when he’s a goose. 

☽☽☽

Two days pass before Calum’s itching to see Luke again. Well, really, he’s been itching since the moment he’d left the shop, but when he couldn’t focus on anything else, hooked on Luke like a drug, he knew he had to act. His intention is to show up in his flesh, to actually interact with Luke, exchange pleasantries, maybe leave feeling  _ good _ about the exchange, but nothing ever goes the way Calum wants. 

Luke’s vampire friend is in the store, leaning against the side of the counter and laughing at something Luke’s saying. If it were anybody else in the world, Calum would be completely alright with showing his flesh and being himself, but the vampire is just so  _ pretty _ . With his pink lips and bright green eyes and sharp teeth that show when he smiles and makes Calum feel equal parts threatened and turned on, it’s just a little disheartening for Calum - he always feels so inferior. 

He’s not thinking much when he slips into the alley and strips himself of his clothing, shifting into a puppy, feeling like a lost one when he realizes he doesn’t know how to live without hiding behind his powers. He trots into  _ The Twinkling Trinket _ , tongue out, wanting to play with Luke, mind set on avoiding mischief today. 

Things seem off to a good start when the vampire immediately swoons upong Calum’s entrance, his mouth opening into a gasp, fangs glinting in the light. Luke’s behind the glass counter, his ears sharp, face shining with his charm, and Calum can feel his tail start to wag, so fucking enchanted by the faerie glaring at him. 

"Oh my  _ Gods _ ," the vampire cries out in enough awe to rival a siren. "What an adorable little - " 

"Michael,  _ no _ ," Luke snaps, his arm reaching out to grab for the vampire, Michael. "That’s not a dog, that’s the ‘shifter. He’s just here for trouble." Calum deflates at the clear distaste, his tail dropping and his tongue making its way back in his mouth. He never  _ means _ to cause trouble - he just really wants Luke’s attention. " _ Leave _ , ‘shifter. I can’t keep cleaning up messes you make just because your kind can’t control themselves.”

Feeling reprimanded, Calum drops down onto the ground, looking up at Luke through what he hopes are sad eyes, wanting sympathy and maybe a cuddle. It doesn’t work in the way Calum’s intending, but Michael falls for it, rushing forward toward him. "Luke, you  _ can’t _ tell me he’s not cute. Don’t you just want to pet his belly?" Calum rolls onto his back, letting the vampire rub his stomach. It makes his leg twitch reflexively, and the vampire whimpers. " _ Awe."  _

"He takes a cute form because his intentions are ugly." Luke’s arms are crossed where he stands behind the counter, looking betrayed by his vampire friend. Calum can tell the moment he gets sick of it, because he’s rushing forward, demanding, "Out of my shop. Shoo!" He goes to shove him out with his boot, but Calum acts fast, running past the counter towards the back room. He wants Luke to chase him, to play, and chase him he does. "You little shit - " 

When a shapeshifter takes the form of an animal, they tend to take on some of their behavior - not too heavily, but enough to affect a small part of them. Lately, though, Calum’s been manifesting more and more of the animal sensibilities. For instance, while his sense of smell is naturally enhanced, as any ‘shifter’s would be, he shouldn’t be seeking out the leather jacket thrown in the corner that smells so heavily of Earth magic and Luke, but he does. Not only that, he grips it with his canine teeth and races out of the room, past the fuming faerie, and out of the store.

"Get back here, ‘shifter!" 

In Calum’s brain, it’s all a fun game, but Luke’s furious, chasing after him, the two of them weaving through the crowded sidewalk. Calum makes it halfway down the street before he starts sneezing, the magic on the jacket too heavy when he’s already got his own magic coursing through him in the shift. He can feel himself reacting to it, can see the white fur of his paws turning brown, can feel his bones creaking, his body growing. Luke’s right behind him, so Calum drops the coat, runs as fast as he can, and turns the corner to transform out of sight. 

It’s painful, the sudden forced transformation, and he stays hidden behind a dumpster as Luke’s threat echoes around the bricks. "Don’t come back, trouble!" The overwhelming magic fizzle in the air begins to rescind, Calum’s still-sensitive ears catching the tail end of Luke mumbling to himself as he walks away. 

It’s late when Calum feels the last of Luke’s magic drain from his body, the reactive effects finally calming. He shifts back down into the puppy and races back home, not forgetting to stop in the alley behind Luke’s closed shop to grab his clothes first. 

☽☽☽

Shifting is beginning to become a problem for Calum. It’s taking over his instincts more often than not, making him feel out of control every moment he isn’t in his flesh. He’s starting to worry a bit, thinking that maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to reach out to the elders for help. It’s not bad enough for that, yet, so he’ll deal with his consequences for now. 

A few days ago, when Calum decided to turn into a kitten as his niece was visiting, he got an urge to claw something up, and decided Ashton’s bedding was a good choice - better than his own, at least. He was caught by his roommate far too late into his destruction and was locked in the bathroom until he decided to join the world in his flesh again. It took a  _ lot _ longer than it should have because there was a sock on the bathroom floor that distracted him for the better part of an hour. 

To repent for the trouble he caused, Calum bought Ashton a new comfort. It wasn’t enough, though, especially when Ashton found his destroyed sock on the bathroom floor, so that’s why Calum’s at the cafe down the street buying Ashton’s ’s favorite scones -  _ actually _ buying, with real money. Calum’s been in this shop a few times before, but he’s usually some sort of rodent, and he’s stealing baked goods. He’s never actually taken the time to look around and acquaint himself to the staff, but he’s out to prove that he’s sorry to Ashton, so Calum collects his pride - and the five dollars he has to his name - and handles the situation like a functioning member of society. 

The walls are an inviting pink color, and there’s a loose structure to the seating that looks like it accounts for any possible movement, but what really surprises him is the familiar figure behind the register that Calum typically avoids like the plague. 

"Vampire in a cafe?" Calum asks Michael, Luke’s friend, as he approaches the counter. "Do you fill the jelly donuts with blood?" It takes him a moment to remember that he’s virtually a stranger to Calum, that they’ve never  _ actually  _ met. Sure, Michael’s rubbed his belly before, but that was during a shift. He doesn’t recognize Calum’s face, so what he said comes off a lot less jokingly as it should. 

"Wow," Michael deadpans, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. "How incredibly clever and not at all ignorant of you." Calum rolls his eyes and orders the scones along with a coffee. Michael types it in the computer but doesn’t move to grab them yet. "Just because I survive on the bitter taste of blood, it doesn’t mean I can’t crave something sweet."

"Sorry, man," Calum apologizes, running his hand roughly through his hair. "I’m not trying to… it’s been a long day." 

"It’s not even ten in the morning." 

It’s the truth, but Calum doesn’t need to be called out on it. "It’s been a long  _ few _ days, then," he corrects.

"Tell me about it," Michael says as he gets to work making Calum’s coffee. Calum nods along in understanding, but Michael just laughs. "No, I mean  _ actually _ tell me about it. Baristas are the bartenders of the daytime." 

Whether it’s true or not, Calum’s feeling the weight of everything on his shoulders heavier than ever now, and he could use an outlet in any capacity. Even in the best friend of the fae stealing Calum’s heart. "I’m a ‘shifter, and I…" Before he’s even started, Michael’s eyes widen, and Calum frowns. He’s aware that his kind, shapeshifters, have a bad reputation, as much as Calum wishes he could counteract it, his admission only furthers the prejudice. "I opted out of training because my shift is under control, and… well, the community may have kicked me out because I have a penchant for stealing sometimes - "

Michael raises a brow. "How about you pay for your scones, and I’ll give you the coffee on the house?" He looks hesitant, but Calum laughs, sliding his crumpled five across the counter in exchange for the coffee. When he gets his change it goes straight in the tip jar, and Michael goes straight to the display case to grab the scones.

"Lately it’s felt like my shifts have been controlling me," Calum continues explaining as he watches. "So now I’m buying scones to repay my roommate for tearing up his bedspread when I was a kitten." 

"I don’t like to judge people by their abilities," Michael says, leading himself into a sentence that Calum already knows is going to be a judgement. "But you ‘shifters are nothing but trouble. All of you. There’s a ‘shifter that's been harassing my best friend at his store and…" Michael trails off, glaring up at Calum, making him swallow dryly against a lump in his throat in fear of being discovered. "Why do you all want to steal things so badly? Just pay for them." 

It’s not  _ all _ ‘shifters, it’s just Calum, but for once, the assumption that all shapeshifters are assholes that don’t abide by the law has never played on his side like this before. He’s just glad Michael isn’t smart enough to put two and two together. "My roommate, Ashton, isn’t like that,’’ Calum tells him, feeling the need to defend his kind after causing them so much grief. "He doesn’t ever shift unless it’s absolutely needed, and he’s never stolen anything in his life. He always tips 25% even when the service is bad - "

His rambling is cut short by the sight of Michael biting his lip - he’d blush if he could circulate blood - and looking down at the box of baked goods in his hand. "Ashton with the black hair and hazel eyes who always wears those sheer shirts and buys these scones every morning?"

"Oh, yeah…" Calum tilts his head, not sure why Michael’s voice is suddenly so soft or why he refuses to look up at all. "I guess you  _ would _ know him, working here. He basically lives in this place." 

"So…  _ that _ Ashton is a shapeshifter?" Michael asks. Calum feels like maybe he just ruined this place for his best friend, exposed him in some sort of way, and he feels the need to defend it all. 

"He’s a really good one, though," Calum piles on. "Only shifts when he needs to." 

"So he’s a good guy? Like he’s a good person to be around and like… get to know and go out with?"

Feeling suddenly lost in the conversation, Calum’s eyebrows lift. "I guess??" 

Michael smiles to himself before clearing his throat and shrugging. "I just know that you guys have a bad reputation." 

It only takes Calum five seconds of waiting for an apology to realize that there isn’t one coming his way, and his laugh stops abruptly. Michael’s staring at the counter, biting the inside of his cheek, and Calum feels rightfully upset at the insinuated insult. "Because vampires are so fucking pure, right?" Swiping the scones from Michael’s tight grip, Calum leaves in a huff.

He doesn’t need anybody telling him he’s trouble - he already knows. 

☽☽☽

Still feeling the burn of Michael’s reaction, Calum gets a spark of mischief, an ache in his bones that pushes for him to shift into a mouse and hide on a shelf in  _ The Twinkling Trinket _ . Luke isn’t up front when Calum scurries through the door, but as soon as he’s settled himself next to an old copy of  _ Lycanthrope _ , Luke’s storming out of the back in a cloud of purple glitter, the magic expelling off of his sharpened face in rage as he recognizes Calum’s ‘shifter energy. There are sparks coming from his fingertips, and Calum knows he shouldn’t think something like this about a faerie’s true skin, but Luke’s so fucking beautiful, and Calum finds himself entranced. The power he’s showing is so suffocating, and he wants to live in it. All too soon, an incubus looking at sagesticks screams that there’s a rat in the store, and - despite the fact that Calum’s  _ not _ a fucking rat, he’s a mouse,  _ thank you very much  _ \- Calum scrams, jumping off the shelf and running straight out of the store. 

Needing more, like an addict to the magic, Calum changes at home and goes back to the store, this time in his flesh. It’s supposed to be easier when he isn’t shifted, less influence in the air, but the residual sparks are still flying, the shop crackling with tension, and Luke’s ears are still pointing back, his cheeks like a razor, soaked in his magic and sparkling in the light. He’s a fucking vision, and it only gets worse when lights up upon Calum’s entrance. 

"Calum, hi!" His smile drops just as quickly as it arrived, eyes suddenly wide in worry. "Sorry I’m - " He gestures to his sharp, glimmering face, looking ashamed of it all. Calum wants to tell him he’s gorgeous, that he should never apologize for being as stunning as he is, but every time Calum goes to open his mouth, he can taste the magic between them, and he’s alive with it, his skin on fire, his body twitching. "Um…" Luke looks a bit uncomfortable with Calum’s silence and continues, "I don’t have anything new in for you today, but, um… well, I was thinking of getting these lunar necklaces that help harness the moon’s energy in daylight, is that… that’s stupid, nevermind."

Calum wants to say that its not stupid, and that even though he wouldn’t really benefit from it, he’s happy Luke’s thinking about him. But he feels so weak, can’t say anything of his own choosing. When he finally makes it past the thick charm suffocating him, he mumbles out, "more lotion," happy he said anything at all, even if he doesn’t really need it.

"You used it all?" Luke asks, looking immediately more worried, somehow leaking even  _ more _ charm into the air. "Is the shift  _ that _ bad for you? I…" He rushes to grab another vial from it’s new location in a medical cubby behind him, and Calum groans, wanting to cry with the strong feeling coming over him. His entire body is curling in on itself, the urge to shift back into  _ anything _ pushing past any control he might have. "Um, okay. I’m gonna give you the same discount because I still really like you visiting, and with how much of this you need, you could definitely use the - am I rambling?" 

As Luke looks up, inquiring for a serious answer, Calum throws a pile of old, wrinkled bills on the and leaves without waiting for his change, without saying goodbye, and takes off for home. 

Later, Calum will find himself thankful that he has so much lotion now because as he gets home, he stops fighting the magic pulsing through him and finds himself shifting - rather abruptly - into a jaguar just past his front door. He quickly makes his way in his room and spends the next day in there, flipping through the entire fucking animal kingdom, unable to stop it, helpless to his nature. 

☽☽☽

When the sheer amount of magic shoved at him through Luke’s influence wears off, Calum’s left with one hell of a magic hangover, the likes of which he hasn’t seen since Ashton dated a warlock into the dark arts. His first thought is to avoid the shop altogether, that something’s wrong with him, and it’s only ignited in that shop, but then he  _ actually _ thinks about not seeing Luke, and he’s walking down the street before the sadness really sinks in. 

He makes his way into the shop, his entire body dragging with each step. He was hoping his lethargy would be more subtle, but he isn’t even two steps in before Luke’s laughing at him from behind the counter. “Did you have a wild night? Drink too much, maybe?” 

Typically, Calum would never play his cards, would never expose just how heavily the fae’s magic affects him, but he’s aching all over, his head pounding - he needs help. “Your magic…” 

“Oh…” A pretty blush takes over Luke’s half-sharpened cheekbones, and it doesn’t help Calum one bit. “Um, I’m sorry about that. I’ve been sparking a lot more lately, and I’m not sure why. 

“It’s okay,” Calum waves him off. Luke can ramble sometimes, and Calum loves it on a normal day, but today he just - “Do you…” 

“Yeah, um, magic hangovers are the worst. But I bought a couple elixirs from a witch a while back," Luke’s explaining, and Calum doesn’t know what he was expecting, but an elixir sounds really good right now. "She wanted it in exchange for protection against a dark fae, and you know - "

" _ Luke _ ." 

Sensing the desperation and urgency, Luke snaps his mouth shut and starts backing up. "Right…" He disappears into the back room, and it should give Calum the space and silence to start feeling even the slightest bit better, but unbeknownst to him, he’s not alone. 

"So…" a voice drawls next to him, and he snaps his gaze over to see Michael leaning casually against the now-completed enchanted figure display. "Magic hangover, huh?" He was there the whole time, it seems. Calum’s disappointed in himself for not taking a cursory glance around before he arrived, but even now he can’t find it in himself to be mad. He’s too worn down to pay it the mind he should. "I saw your beautiful roommate this morning. He said you were having trouble controlling your shift."

It sounds like a typical conversation starter, but knowing the vampire, there’s some twisted insinuation behind it. He glares, his lips pouting with the energy it takes. "Mind your fucking business."

"Gods, you’re a brat." Michael rolls his eyes, stepping even closer as if Calum won’t shift into a wolf and bite his head off. "Maybe the elders can help with your attitude." Calum scowls even harder, but Michael ignores it. "Whatever, I dont even care about your stupid problems."

"Then why are you talking to me?" 

He shrugs. "For fun. No reason." Then he leans forward, resting his elbow on the glass counter so his palm can cradle his cheek in the worst display of faux-indifference Calum’s ever seen. "Hey… your roommate, I don’t remember his name, Ashbo? Is he single?" 

Calum rolls his eyes, figuring if this is about anything it all, the relationship status of his best friend is a safer bit than anything regarding Calum at all. "Yeah." 

Just as Luke’s coming out of the back room with a tiny flask in his hand, a single shot elixir, Michael grins, not at all subtle when he continues, "So, does he… would he ever date a non-‘shifter?"

"A ‘shifter?" 

"My roommate," Calum’s quick to explain at Luke’s inquisition. He hasn’t worked this long, struggled this hard, just to be exposed by a vampire with a sweet tooth. "He…" 

"‘Shifters are nothing but trouble." Luke’s frowning down at his display case, and Calum just wants to speak up and apologize for causing him so much trouble, for being every stereotype of his kind, for being  _ worse _ . But Luke doesn’t know he’s the one that’s been doing it, and Calum doesn’t think he’ll ever confess. "No offense, I mean - "

"None taken," Calum sighs, resigned. He can see Michael frowning out of the corner of his eye. "‘Shifters are all trouble.

"They are." It should be no surprise that Luke hates ‘shifters just like everybody else, especially seeing his personal connection to one, but the affirmation still stings.

"Ashton isn’t," Michael cuts in. He’s looking cautiously at Calum for some reason, but he looks content to go on about Ashton, and Calum won’t protest. "He’s amazing. What’s his favorite thing to shift into?"

In the past six years, Calum’s heard of very seldom times that Ashton’s transformed. "Nothing. He doesn’t use his abilities unless it’s absolutely necessary." 

"I’ve always wanted to cuddle with a cheetah," he continues as if Calum never spoke in the first place. "You think he’d do that for me?" 

"No." 

"I think he would," Michael insists, and Luke begins to laugh, a mellifluous echo in Calum’s ear that has his shift curling at the pit of his stomach. 

To distract himself from the slip in his control, Calum focuses on Michael’s ignorance. "Gods, he’s dense, isn’t he?" But it only makes Luke laugh even harder. He lights up with it the same way he lights up with every other emotion - his cheeks glisten on their now-razor sharp edges, his ears pointed where they angle back, and - a new show - his lids blinking slower, deliberately batting with the charm floating around him. Already, Calum feels the tendrils of magic licking at his spine, and all he wants to do is bite Luke’s neck. 

“I just think maybe some people are worth giving that extra effort for, and Ashton would - " Michael cuts off his rambling suddenly, staring at Calum, looking shocked in a way that’s a little frightening. "Your eyes…"

Calum looks at Michael, able to see his own reflection in the blown irises. When he looks to Luke, Luke jumps back a few feet, and Calum can feel his fingers twitching, claws biting their way out of the tips, and he runs out of the shop, leaving the elixir behind. As he passes the window, he’s met with a curious, knowing expression from Luke that shakes him to his core. He finds safety in the public restroom at a bookstore down the block. 

In the mirror, he can see that his eyes are reptilian, and scales are dancing on his cheeks. He shuts his eyes tight and wills it away, but it takes ten minutes before he feels safe enough to leave the bathroom and go home. 

Something’s wrong, and he thinks it might have something to do with Luke.

☽☽☽

" _ This _ is why you have to knock off all the immature shit you’ve been doing," Ashton snaps at him when they cross paths the next morning, Calum’s face half-transformed into a porcupine. "You  _ need _ help controlling yourself or else you’re going to end up in a shift you can’t get out of." He gesticulates wildly as he’s lecturing, forcing Calum to have to lean back every once in a while to avoid stabbing Ashton with his prickly bits. 

"But I’ve been fine for  _ years _ ." That’s what fucks Calum about it all, that his wild shifting is something that’s only coming out of the shadows recently, ruining his life as it does "Why am I losing control  _ now _ ?"

"I don’t know, but if you had the community behind you, we might be able to figure it out easily." As helpful as Ashton’s being, Calum can’t stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Have you pissed off a warlock lately?"

It makes Calum scoff, the idea that Ashton thinks of him as a fool who will repeat the same mistakes over again. "No, not since the last time." 

A few years back, when he was just settling into his mature flesh, looking like an adult with thick arms and long legs and brown eyes that he tended to make look softer than they actually were, Calum made the mistake of befriending a warlock that had a crush on him. For the next six months, Calum avoided mentioning his lack of interest until it all went up in flames, Calum loudly announcing at the town’s Black Magic festival that he could never love a Wart-covered face like that. 

He was immature and annoyed, taking it out on someone in the worst way, and he spent the next year covered in the very same warts he mocked as his consequence. 

"Did you decline an invitation from an incubus?" Ashton asks, and Calum shakes his head, confused.

"How would that - "

"They feed off of sexual energy," Ashton explains. "And if they’re denied their source of intake, they can fuck with the chemicals in your body."

Technically, though magic isn’t a chemical, a hormone imbalance  _ could _ potentially fuck with his control, but thinking back, the most sexual creature Calum remembers coming across in the past few months is Michael, and as suspicious as he is, he’s just a vampire. If he wanted to mess with Calum, he would have drained him of his blood. Not that he’d have any reason to. Despite them not inherently getting along, Michael and Calum aren’t on bad terms. Come to think of it - 

"Well, I haven’t pissed anyone off lately." He used to antagonize a store owner a day, sometimes more if he didn’t get the reaction he wanted, but the past few weeks, _The_ _Twinkling Trinket_ is where he’s focused all of his attention. "Well, except Luke, but - "

"Who’s Luke?" Ashton asks, voice snappy at the new information, his eyes narrowed. The prickles on Calum’s get stiff in defense. "What did you do to him." 

It’s not a question but a demand. Ashton already knows that whatever has happened is absolutely, one-hundred percent Calum’s fault. "He’s… he owns the store I -"

"You pissed off a  _ fae _ ?" And  _ fuck _ . He forgot that Ashton’s been around the entire time, that in the history of mischief that Calum gets up to, Ashton’s been bailing him out the entire time. "Calum, are you fucking kidding me?! What if he’s dark? What if he - " 

The insinuations of Luke being dark, whilst completely warranted without knowing his character, bite away at Calum, and more of his face transforms uncontrollably. "He’s  _ not _ ! He’s light and beautiful and he wouldn’t do this to me." His shift tugs viscerally, and Ashton smirks at him.

"Have you been flirting with that shopkeep?"

"What?" His voice climbs, giving him away, but he still plays ignorant, feeling a swarm of embarrassment hug him. "No, I… Shut up." 

"You’re pulling his pigtails, oh my  _ Gods, _ that’s so cute." 

With Ashton all but cooing him, and the porcupine growing further into his features, Calum finds himself fumbling. "I haven’t…  _ stop _ ." But Ashton just sticks his bottom lip out in a mocking pout. "I’m a menace! Nothing but trouble." 

"No you’re not, you have a crush. That’s so cute." He reaches out to pinch Calum’s cheek but gets stopped by the needles protruding from Calum’s skin… it serves him right. 

"Okay, well, whatever." He crosses his arms stubbornly, watching as the spikes contract into his skin as he does. "It isn’t Luke that’s making me lose control, so it doesn’t matter." 

Though it feels like a lie to say, most of him pretty keyed into the clues pointing towards the probability that Luke’s somehow fucking with his shift, Calum’s still surprised when Ashton verifies, "Actually, it does. Luke’s magic is what’s affecting your shift, I think." Calum doesn’t argue despite how much he wants to because when he thinks back to every instance of the glimmering shine of Luke’s skin and how unhinged it always makes Calum feel, he knows Ashton’s right. "You’re attracted to Luke, and you’re an unbonded supernatural creature. When Luke’s magic is on display, your own magic is jumping out, fighting for exposure, to tie you to him. Your want is so great that it’s making your shift take control." 

Even after taking it all in, Calum’s still not completely sure of what it all means. "You’re saying…" 

"You’re horny for a fae." The completely serious sentiment is followed by Ashton’s immature giggling. Calum pouts, not liking being the butt of the joke. "It’s basic magic studies, Calum. If you would let the elders help you, you’d know this, you idiot." 

It’s been  _ years _ of Ashton hounding him to go for help, to ask for his training, and for the very first time, with Luke dangling so preciously just out of reach, Calum actually considers it. "Okay, well," he throws his arms up feeling like he’s giving in. "Maybe I should just let them." 

"Yeah?" Ashton snorts, most likely assuming that Calum’s making a joke of it. "I spent the last six years telling you to join the cause, and now suddenly you’re interested." 

"Well, I want to be able to visit him without turning into a lizard, and if they can help…" 

Ashton frowns, and something about it sits crooked in Calum’s gut. "They can, they definitely can, but you need to stop seeing him."

"What? No," Calum stutters for a moment, trying to find the proper words to express just how impossible and  _ awful _ that would be. His arms are getting prickly again in his anger at even thinking about it. "Why would… that doesn’t make any sense."

"You can’t learn to control your shift if everything is counteracted by this guy," Ashton explains, and Calum bites back the argument that he already  _ can _ control his shift because his twitching nose and sharp-as-a-blade hair says otherwise. "You either need to stop seeing him, magically control your transformation, or seal a bond with him." 

The worst part of Ashton’s offers would be to stop seeing him, and sealing a bond is far too permanent for how little they truly know about each other, but the second suggestion… "Magically? You mean I can take a potion and - "

"No," Ashton cuts him off before he can finish asking, shakes his head fervently. "No, no, no. There’s no recipe that’ll just solve this issue." 

"So a witch, or - "

He only shakes his head harder. "Get all of that out of your system, Cal. There’s only one way to artificially control it, and it’s not even really possible. I shouldn’t have even brought it up."

And despite the idea not really being possible, Calum wants to know all of his options, needs to know what he can do to keep Luke in his life without turning into a sunflower next time. "Well, what is it?"

"It’s a stone," Ashton says, eyes rolling like he can’t believe he’s even telling Calum. "Purple quartz that can center the magic in you. There are very few in the world, so your chances were slim to begin with, but the last time the elders saw one was a hundred years back. There’s been no record of it since then." 

"Purple quartz?" Calum asks, having only really stuck on one part. Ashton nods. "Like an amethyst?"

Confused, Ashton shrugs. "Yeah, I guess so. That’d be the best modern day comparison." He’s speaking like it’s all hypothetical, and Calum has to roll his eyes. 

He knows where he’s seen something like that before. 

☽☽☽

It’s been unanimously decided by everyone in the world that it’s time Calum grows up. He’s done with immaturity - with the pranks, the hijinx, the nonsense. He’s going to be a good samaritan, a good shapeshifter. He’s going to let the community train him, and he’s not going to make a fool of himself with it. His life of mischief is officially done and over with. 

So he immediately transforms into a weasel and goes to rob  _ The Twinkling Trinket _ .

It’s not that stealing is his idea of behaving, but the way Ashton described the purple quartz stone is exactly what the amethyst sitting in Luke’s shop looks like - Luke himself even said it calmed his magic. If it could work on the sheer volume of magic filling a faerie’s veins, there’s no saying the wonder it could do for Calum’s shift. 

Unfortunately, as he goes to take the amethyst, he’s met with some resistance. He manages to race in and grab the necklace from it’s display, and he nearly makes it out, but just as he’s approaching the door, a strong wind slams it shut. Calum turns instinctively, but he hits an invisible wall and flies backwards. Looking around he sees glitter sparkling in front of him, beside him, all around like a… 

A fae circle.

Out of all the possible things to ruin all of his hard work, Calum’s gone and got himself trapped in a fae circle. 

There’s a pounding in his head at the power surging around him, squeezing his body tight, and he doesn’t realize that it matches the pounding of Luke’s stomping feet as he approaches the circle. He’s angry, Luke is, his full fae is showing, every bone sharp, his magical influence everywhere as he demands, "Show yourself, ‘shifter!" 

Calum’s inability to control himself mixed with the obedience of being stuck in the fae circle, the absolute source of all of Luke’s influence, mix together, and Calum feels himself shifting. His hands turn to claws and his eyes slant, scales covering his form. It doesn’t set, a thick, matted fur covering his frame as his ear droop - an anteater, a spider, a zebra. Calum turns into them all before he exhausts himself and his flesh surfaces and he’s exposed, crouching naked in a fae circle, body aching from the tightness of it, wide brown eyes wet with tears as he stares up at a furious and hurt Luke.

The part that burns the most is that he doesn’t look surprised in the least. " _ Knew _ it." 

With a flick of his wrist, he clears the circle and walks into the back room, the wind warping the front room stopping immediately, letting the door fly back open. Calum knows he should explain himself, should apologize and grovel and try to make things right, but he needs to be able to control himself. He puts the necklace on, turns into a pigeon, and flies home, knowing he has a lot of work to do. 

☽☽☽

Calum tries to go back to see Luke every day for a week, but  _ The Twinkling Trinket _ has closed its doors. 

☽☽☽

After his third failed attempt at finding Luke today, Calum walks home. It’s getting more and more disheartening everytime he finds himself back at the dark store, but he refuses to stop trying, not until he can at least apologize and give Luke his amethyst back. Until then, he’ll wear it for safekeeping. 

He opens his front door at the end of a long day just to see Michael sitting on his couch, fang deep in Ashton’s neck. 

"Um…" 

At Calum’s hesitant voice, Ashton startles, but Michael’s reaction is much slower. His eyes flutter open as he takes his time to retract his teeth. A bead of blood drips down onto Ashton’s neck, and Michael’s pink tongue indulgently cleans it up. After, he turns to Calum with a smirk. "This is a date."

"You just…" Calum’s voice is low, eyes stuck on the still-healing mark Michael’s left behind. "Suck your date’s blood on night one?"

"Technically it’s night two," Ashton corrects, slurring as his gaze stays locked on his date’s mouth. 

With a grin, Michael teases, "Night one was a lot messier." As he licks his fangs, they glint distractingly in the light. 

" _ Oh… _ " Ashton moans, and despite the urge Calum has to roll his eyes at the clear desire of his roommate, he understands, can feel the same draw towards Michael. "Cal, can you - would you please go to your room?" 

And the fucking gall of that just - "Why can’t you go to  _ your _ room? Why are you fucking on the couch?" 

"It’s not fucking, its - "

"Foreplay." Calum cuts Ashton off before he can defend whatever they’re doing. They might not be naked, but for some reason this feels far more intimate that any of the three times Calum walked in on Ashton naked. It might even outdo when he overheard his best friend fucking his ex girlfriend through the thin walls. It’s just teeth, but it’s  _ hot _ . 

"You’re not wrong," Michael grins.

Calum rolls his eyes, about to walk away, but he remembers - "Hey… Have you seen Luke lately? His shops been - "

Without even speaking, Michael cuts Calum off just by narrowing his eyes. " _ Yeah _ ." He’s glaring, a far cry from the fun and teasing Michael that was just here. Now there’s a deliberate venom in his scowl. "He fled town when a ‘shifter that’s been stealing from him turned out to be someone he had thought liked him."

"I  _ do _ like him," Calum insists, meaning it in more ways than one. He likes Luke  _ too _ much, and that’s why he’s made such a mess of things. "I just, I’m a shapeshifter. I do stupid stuff for attention. He’s pretty and I…" He trails off, pouting as he realizes he’s trying to defend his immaturity when he just needs to  _ apologize. _ "Where did he run off to? Is he coming back?" 

"I don’t know." Michael shrugs, green eyes wild. Calum silently thanks the spirits that vampires don’t possess magic; he’s certain he’d be on the receiving end of something dark with Michael’s anger. "He won’t talk to me." 

There’s someone inside Calum’s head telling him Michael isn’t being completely honest with his answer, so he keeps pushing, knowing he needs to show how serious he is about everything, how willing to grovel Calum is. "I’m sorry." It’s not Michael that Calum should be apologizing to, but his lack of control didn’t just affect Luke, so Michael deserves  _ something _ . "I didn’t, I wasn’t trying to cause trouble. I’m just…"

"He’s getting training from the elders, if that means anything," Ashton says suddenly, speaking for the first time since he started swaying under Michael. "He can be a little shit sometimes, but he had good intentions." Something feels odd about the speed in which he’s speaking, and Calum doesn’t realize what it is until he tastes the shift in the air - Ashton’s manipulating Michael with big eyes, a glow to his skin, his pulse beating wildly. 

Michael bites his lip. "I…" he takes a deep breath in, eyes closing for a moment before he’s shaking his head. "Okay, I’ll tell you where he  _ might _ be hiding, but you can’t fuck it up."

"I won’t!" Calum insists. "I swear, I promise." 

"I mean it! He won’t even talk to me, so if he listens to you, make it count.  _ Trust _ me, you don’t want to end up on a fae’s bad side…" Michael’s eyes narrow, his tone dropping as he warns, "Especially where you’re going." 

☽☽☽

It takes two painfully long days for Calum to actually make it to Luke. He wants to make things right and knows that the first step is approaching him, but he also has two strenuous, all-day training sessions. As much as Calum puts Luke as a priority, if he misses a meeting, he’s out of the community again, and his recklessness hasn’t ever gotten him anywhere before - he’s trying to think smart about this all. 

The location Michael gives him is in the center of the woods on the edge of their community. Luke’s hideout is so deep in the thrush, completely off any path, that Calum has to find it using geographical coordinates and a compass. It’s a lot of work but completely worth it in the end when Calum walks up the steps to the most adorable cottage, heart racing as he knocks. Inside of the home, Calum can hear Luke’s hesitant footsteps approaching, and he immediately feels a spark of magic that makes his nose twitch, the beginnings of him shifting into a fucking bunny of all things.

Thinking fast, Calum slips the amethyst on to control his impulses. He’ll have to take it off when he gives it back to Luke, but in this moment, it’s the only thing keeping him in his flesh. He focuses on the energy around him, balancing himself, and Luke opens the door. 

And then nearly slams it in his face. 

"Luke  _ please _ ," Calum yells, his foot between the door and the frame, keeping it cracked open. "Let me explain."

It’s not a very persuasive argument, but it appears to work. Luke sighs and opens the door again. This time, Calum actually sees him, and it makes his heart stop. Luke’s cheeks are sharp, his ears are angled, and he’s drenched in his glittery magic. On a regular day, he’s already the prettiest person in any given room, but today, showing his fae, he’s a fucking  _ vision _ . Even his hair is softer than it’s ever been, and Calum feeds off the magic the whole time, feeling thankful that he has the quartz to fall back on. 

"Well…" Luke’s eyebrow quirks up and Calum flushes red, embarrassed that he’s too entranced by Luke to say his piece, to recite what he’s spent an entire week rehearsing. 

"Sorry, you’re just…"

Luke huffs, eyes troubled as he stares at the ground, lip clenched between his teeth. "I don’t know why. I can’t control it, and I’m - "

"No," Calum cuts him off, shaking his head immediately. He refuses to let Luke think he’s anything but absolutely perfect. "It’s not your magic, it's… it’s just  _ you _ . You’re so pretty, and I don’t know what to say sometimes."

Luke’s eyes widen, caught off guard, and he’s blushing as he glares at the ground. "Stop," he mumbles. "Don’t pretend you care about me right now. You just want me to open the shop so you can steal some more." 

"No, I - "

"You’re going to run me out of business, you know," Luke whines.

There’s a lot to be said for Calum’s control that he doesn’t roll his eyes at Luke’s dramatics, at the way he’s over-exaggerated the damage that Calum hasn’t done to ruin his shop. "I’ve returned everything I've ever stolen," he defends. Luke’s staring pointedly at the necklace, and Calum actually does roll his eyes at that. "I need to keep it on for the apology or I’ll shift, but it’s yours as soon as I’m done." Luke scowls and doesn’t say anything until Calum opens his mouth to talk.

"I gave you  _ discounts _ , you jerk," he snaps, losing energy and impact with every half-assed outburst. Calum sits back and takes it, knowing he deserves it, as he waits for Luke to open to the idea of an apology. "You were using me. You told me you were a werewolf!"

"I told you I could turn into a wolf, and I wasn’t lying." 

Luke pouts, mouth tensing before falling. "Why are you here?"

"To apologize," Calum says. "Explain myself, too." 

"Well then do it," he demands, crossing his arms over his chest. Calum opens his mouth to speak, but Luke continues, "Tell me  _ all  _ about - " 

"Can you shut your pretty, faerie mouth for ten seconds so I can talk?" At Calum’s shout, Luke’s mouth snaps shut, and he blushes. A bit of glimmering charm falls from his cheeks onto the floor, and Calum watches, mesmerized, for a second before his shift is tugged in his gut, and he has to focus. "I think you’re the best creature I’ve ever met in my life." Luke stays staring at the ground. "You’re pretty and nice and smart. You run your own business and help people, and I’m just a ‘shifter without the community behind me." He pauses, thinking better of his words. "Or… I was. I’ve started getting help because… well because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to see you anymore." 

He can’t even pretend he wanted help for any reason other than Luke. There’s no threat of jail time or exclusion from his kind that ever motivated Calum the way this dumb, tall faerie with a fat ass does. He’s the only creature in the world to make Calum think of changing his ways. 

Slowly, cautiously, Luke looks up from under his eyelashes, and Calum finishes his thoughts. "I didn’t know how to talk to you when I first met you, so I let my instincts take over, and I shifted. The first thing I tried to steal from you was that wizards’ ring. It was right on the counter, and I… I wanted you to play with me, so I grabbed it. I ended up running into the wall and dropping it, but when I saw that you reacted by showing your faerie, I needed to see it again…" He trails off, taking a deep breath, feeling like every inch of his is being exposed in a way he isn’t prepared for. "I needed to see  _ you _ again." 

Staring at him from the other side of the threshold, Luke pulls his bottom lip into his mouth, sucking on it as he thinks about what Calum’s said. It isn’t long before he’s letting it go and asking, "Why couldn’t you have come in and  _ actually  _ interacted with me? Why did you need to terrorize me?"

"Because I’m a _shapeshifter_ , Luke," Calum spits bitterly, feeling the weight of his mischief on his tongue. He’s no better than what other people think, and he knows it. He likes the mischief, lives for the hijinx - it’s _fun_. "I’m a no good, troublesome ‘shifter, and - "

"Don’t do that." Luke’s voice is soft, hurt, as he speaks. "Don’t pretend you’re a stereotype. I’m not a dark fae, Michael doesn’t prey on the innocent, and even your ‘shifter roommate isn’t trouble," Luke defends. "Why did you do it?" 

Calum huffs, not liking that Luke can always see right through him. "Because I like pranks, okay?" Luke snorts, making Calum flush at the idiocracy he’s displaying. "I know it sounds stupid, but I really like jokes and pranks and  _ trouble.  _ Ashton says I was pulling your pigtails, and I don’t think he was wrong." Calum can’t regret subtly spilling his feelings when Luke grins so brightly. "I like you a lot, and this was the only way I knew how to get that across." 

As Luke bites his lip to cover his smile, Calum can’t help but think he looks far too forgiving too soon. "Well, I’m still upset that you stole, but - "

"No buts!" Calum shouts, cutting him off in a rush to stop Luke from getting over everything before he’s ready to. "You’re upset, and you should be. What I did was wrong, and I’m not here to be forgiven because I don’t deserve it. I’m just here to apologize and return the amethyst." He wraps his hand protectively around the stone, preparing to rip it off his neck. "I’ll probably turn into a bunny because you make me feel small and soft, but then I’ll hop on my way to the elders to train me, and I won’t be bothering you anymore."

"I don’t want that…" 

"Oh, um," Calum frowns, glancing at the amethyst in his fist, unsure of why Luke wouldn’t want something so valuable back on his shelves. "I mean, I can keep the pendant, but it’s very valuable according to the elders. Are you sure?"

With a wrinkled brow and a pursed lip, Calum can only assume Luke’s looking at him like he’s stupid. "What? No. I need the amethyst back, it’s mine. I mean I don’t want you to just disappear." 

"But I’m trouble…" 

"Yeah," Luke agrees with a sly grin, leaning forward until his shoulder catches on the doorframe. "But you’re cute trouble. I gave you discounts and brought in special products for you all the time." 

As sweet as it is, Calum can’t help but to frown, unwilling to accept that he didn’t read the signals that maybe Luke liked him back, that maybe he didn’t have to turn into a puppy and steal his jacket… "I thought it was just because I was a regular. " 

"I’m bad at flirting." Luke shrugs, somehow looking more casual than he ever has before, even with magic flicking off of his cheekbones in waves. "But I liked you a lot." 

"Liked?"

" _ Like _ ," Luke corrects, smiling sweetly as Calum sucks in a shallow breath. "Still do. Very much so."

Calum shakes his head, staring down at the ground. "I’m not that great at flirting either, so I think we’re even." Luke steps forward, and for a moment Calum thinks they’re going to kiss, but then Luke’s hands spark, and he curses, stepping back. Calum groans, leaning against the doorframe when the shift tugging at him leaves him lightheaded. "This is what I mean."

"I don’t know…" Luke trails off, staring at the white sparks crackling off his fingertips. "Why does this keep happening? I’ve never - fae aren’t like you shapeshifters. We’re born with control, I don’t understand." 

It doesn’t really sink in, what Luke’s saying, because it doesn’t make sense. Ever since Calum’s first met Luke, ever since he first walked into  _ The Twinkling Trinket _ in his flesh and bought a small bracelet traced with lunar energy, Luke’s been prone to sparking his magic occasionally. It’s not new that he’s so out of control - as far as Calum’s seen, he  _ always  _ is… 

And that’s when it hit Calum. What Ashton had said, the reasoning behind Calum’s own loss of control, it  _ has _ to apply to Luke too. If Luke is attracted to him, like he’s said he is, then the outbursts must be his magic jumping out, fighting for exposure, to tie them together. They’re both unbonded supernatural creatures, and this is basic magic studies. 

Feeling a bit smug with everything, about how Luke likes him enough to be losing control of his natural ability, about how he figured everything out, about how just leaning closer to Calum made electricity fly from Luke’s hands, Calum grins. “You  _ liiiike  _ me,” he sings, grinning when Luke only quirks a brow. “You have a  _ cruuuush _ on me.” 

“I just told you - ”

“Your magic is trying to tie to mine,” Calum explains, cutting Luke off. “That’s why I need to leave you alone for a bit.” And it hurts, the idea of putting space between them when they’ve just found out the feelings are mutual, but it has to be done. Calum’s spent his entire adulthood being irresponsible and immature. It’s time he chose the smart route, did something selfless for the sake of everybody’s wellbeing. They need some distance. 

“Or, I mean…” Luke bites his lip, trailing off from whatever his suggestion was going to be. He starts blushing suddenly, and the sparks light harder, flashing out further than they have in Calum’s view. “Nevermind.” 

Unsure of what could have Luke being so shy, so reactive, Calum reaches forward to grip Luke’s wrist, but it only makes his blue eyes burn brighter, his cheeks losing any roundness they were hiding, giving way to one sleek edge. 

“No, what is it?” Calum asks, needing to know. “You can tell me.” 

“I just…” Luke’s suddenly avoiding eye contact, and it’s intriguing Calum more than it should. “I don’t know if it’s different for you, but faes forge bonds together. We give into the ties and…” And Calum promptly knows exactly what Luke’s talking about, can see exactly why the red of his cheeks is so intense. “Um, nothing. It’s dumb.” 

“‘Shifters do it too,” Calum explains, hoping to ease Luke’s nerves for suggesting that they bond, that on the first night of admitting their feelings they make their way to a bed and tie themselves together in the most intimate of ways. “But that's… that’d be forever, and you hated me ten minutes ago.” 

“I never hated you!” Luke shouts, and Calum jumps a bit with it. “I hated that I thought you hated me because I liked you so much. I like you  _ so  _ much, Calum.” It’s hard to follow, but Calum does it gladly, grinning the entire time. “And it doesn’t have to be forever! Just a temporary bond. We’d take all the steps there, but we wouldn’t fully seal it. It’d tie us together, so my magic could work, and you could control your shift.”

He’s insistant, persuasive, and Calum wants to take the step  _ so _ badly. He just doesn’t know if Luke wants him like that. It might be different with fae, but with shapeshifters - “But that would…” - they’d have to sleep together… 

Tonight. 

“I wouldn’t… I’d be okay with it if you would,” Luke says, and Calum can’t argue it. He’s never been into anyone the way he’s into Luke, and this would only be a temporary bond, just something so being together isn’t so destructive, so that the electricity between them is tamed. 

It’s slow, Luke leaning in, and this time, when Luke goes to kiss Calum, and the magic cracks between them, Calum doesn’t let him jump back. It’s hesitant, gentle, the way they kiss. Contrary to the acute angles of every bit of him, Luke’s lips are pillow soft, and Calum wants to fall into them, but - 

“We’re still outside,” he sighs. He pulls away only to be met with Luke’s hand fisting the front of his shirt and dragging him into the cottage. 

There’s no chance for Calum to have a look around the room, Luke putting their mouths together again, kissing him distractedly as he leads them into a seperate room - Luke’s bedroom, he notices when Calum pulls back to breathe, sneaking a peek at the alabaster walls before Luke steals all of his attention again, hurried fingers fumbling with the buttons on Calum’s shirt. 

“What’s the rush?” Calum asks through a giggle as Luke struggles to undo a single button. 

“I feel - ” Luke’s fingers are sparking, magic coming between them excitedly. “I need to do something. You’re here, and I’m so into you and - ”

Calum leans forward and kisses Luke again, cutting him off as he begins undressing himself, not wanting Luke to get too nervous before they begin just because of a flimsy piece of fabric. He leaves the amethyst on to control his shift, even though it leaves Luke unguarded, charm fluttering around him, crackling in the air between them, real life sparks every time they kiss. 

They fall into bed easily, Calum opening himself up as Luke watches on raptly. When they finally begin the bond, when Luke slides inside of him, Luke’s magic begins to fizzle around them in waves, shocking Calum, biting into the skin of his waist where Luke holds him gently. They move together fluidly, coming together, tying their temporary bond in ecstasy as Luke’s charm erupts above them.

As they come down, unraveling from each other and feeling their magic tied tight, secure, Calum can’t help but notice the glitter drenching the white sheets. 

☽☽☽

With a whistle as his wings cut through the thick air under the muggy, summer sun, Calum flies into  _ The Twinkling Trinket _ , feeling the familiar spark of his boyfriend’s magic as he does. He lands on the top shelf next to the back room entrance, and despite the bright colors of the feathers he holds in his parrot form, he blends in well, hiding as Luke comes through the door, cheekbones as sharp as knives. 

It takes a couple of minutes of looking around before Luke gives up and sighs. “Where are you?”

“ _ Where are you _ ?” Calum mocks, his voice high and repetitive. 

Luke’s gaze immediately focuses on the shelf, and he giggles when he sees Calum sitting up high, his wings occasionally flicking out. “If you'd like to join us on the flesh side, I have something cool to show you. 

He disappears into the back room again, and Calum’s forced to fly down, shifting back into his natural form. He’s completely naked, so he rushes through the door, reaching for the pair of sweats Luke always keeps folded on the desk for him, anticipating Calum’s arrival to be in some alternative form. 

Standing by the emergency exit, Luke’s opening a medium-sized cardboard box and pulling out a vial. When Calum walks closer he can see that there’s a few more in the box, each with a bright blue liquid inside. 

“It’s a truth serum,” Luke says, a twisted grin on his face as he stirs the vial in his hand. “I figured we could give it to Mikey and ask him invasive questions.”

“I am  _ absolutely _ in,” Calum agrees immediately. It’s too good of an opportunity to give up. 

“Yeah? I thought the elders would’ve whipped that behavior out of you.” 

Calum rolls his eyes, swiping the serum from Luke’s clumsy fingers. “All they did was give me control. Now I’m better at being rebellious.” Luke giggles, and Calum thinks that Luke really doesn’t need the glitter to shine; he does it all on his own. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you sm for reading - comments are appreciated!!!!! 
> 
> [Come talk to me on Tumblr!](http://fourdrunksluts.tumblr.com)


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